With his company, Pumpkincareers GmbH, David Döbele wants to support ambitious business administration students in "getting the most out of their studies in order to position themselves in the best possible way for a high-performance career in the areas of investment banking, consulting and private equity". .

Döbele started with videos on YouTube.

At the time he was studying economics in Frankfurt.

During his studies he met Jonas Stegh.

With him he founded Pumpkincareers in Frankfurt in January 2020.

The pumpkin (pumpkin) is one of the fastest growing plant species.

“On the one hand, you have 1,500 to 3,000 interesting jobs every year where you really have top career opportunities, and on the other hand, around 100,000 business graduates every year.

That means a maximum of 3 percent of people can get into these top jobs,” explains the 24-year-old Döbele.

Most of the time, an elite class gets these jobs.

His idea was to enable other students to enter top management as well.

Döbele is one of these students.

The reputation of the university is important.

That helps with internships.

"In Germany, the University of Mannheim, the WHU and the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management are among the best universities for business studies," says Döbele.

Internships are of great importance.

"The company where you do your internship should always correspond to your own status quo." However, many students could not classify themselves.

They overestimated themselves and would not get an internship.

Or they underestimated themselves and made no progress.

Non-academic children benefit particularly

Döbele believes that if you follow the right tips, it is possible for people from all kinds of backgrounds to have a career.

“Of course there are people with us who study at a private university and come from a successful family of entrepreneurs.

On the other hand, we also have people who came to Germany at the age of 13 and had to teach themselves the German language,” reports Döbele about his customers.

The latter could take part in the coaching free of charge and defer payment to the future.

Others use a reverse generational contract to fund coaching and study, like Tim Sander.

"I'm currently receiving money from a development fund and will later pay back part of my annual salary," explains the 21-year-old, who is the first in his family to go to university.

“With Pumpkincareers, it becomes less important what family you come from and more about what your goals are and what you really want to do,” says Sander.

Since he has been in coaching, he has improved his grade point average from 1.7 to 1.3.

"Two years ago I had no experience, didn't know where to apply - and now I've been accepted for London, at one of the largest banks in the world." Of course, a lot of personal initiative is still necessary.

"You have to use the coaching efficiently." Coaching includes support with exams and interviews as well as the preparation of application documents.

You will be informed about scholarships and opportunities to get involved.

In addition to 16 full-time employees, the company employs 13 external coaches.

Döbele advises starting early.

There is also a program for high school and high school graduates.

So far, 800 participants have completed the main program for students.

The price for the coaching is in the low to mid four-digit range and is paid once for four to eight months.

After that, you can extend the coaching monthly for 60 to 150 euros per month.

In 2021, the start-up achieved sales in the low seven-digit range.

The article comes from the student project "Youth and Business", which the FAZ organizes together with the Association of German Banks.